Medical marijuana group eyes city's industrial area

Monday

Members of a medical marijuana patients group are hoping to open a medical marijuana collective in Hesperia's industrial area.

The group already has scouted several locations whose landlords have expressed interest, said Kevin Sutman, spokesman for the West Coast Patients Group.

Group members are working on the framework of a proposed city ordinance, which they hope will go before the Hesperia Planning Commission next month. If the commission gives the draft ordinance the green light, the medical marijuana ordinance would go before the City Council.

"As soon as the City Council approves it, we can get a business license and we're open," Sutman said. "We all live here in Hesperia. This is the community where we'd like to work this out."

But there's one major hurdle — Hesperia, like numerous other cities in California, has an ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries. So Sutman's group is banking on a current legal case known as the "Anaheim case" to pave the way for a dispensary. At the center of the case is a group of medical marijuana patients who sued the city of Anaheim for preventing them from setting up a dispensary.

"It's going to set precedents all over the state," Sutman said of the case, which was given a somewhat favorable ruling for medical marijuana proponents in August by a three-judge state appellate court.

The panel agreed with medical marijuana patients that a lower court erred when it stated that federal law preempted state law in this case. However, the court declared that the lower court appropriately stated the medical marijuana patient plaintiffs failed to "state a cause of action." The case could go back to trial courts, which would delay an ultimate decision for many months.

Sutman is hoping for a quick resolution on the side of medical marijuana patients. That would force cities who have ordinances against dispensaries to reevaluate their stances, he said.

If it opens, the Hesperia dispensary would be a central location for medical marijuana users who would bring their legally grown cannabis. Currently each patient who possesses a doctor's clearance are allowed to grow up to six mature plants, he said.

The collective would follow a strict set of guidelines. It would serve people 21 and over, and all must verify they are a medical marijuana patient.